Monday May 23, 2022
Redheaded Blackbelt —
Press release from California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW):
California’s recreational ocean salmon season is underway, and so is the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) ocean salmon monitoring program. Anglers are encouraged to assist CDFW employees or agents who ask about their trip or request to examine the catch, as the information collected is essential to the science needed to support continued ocean salmon fishing opportunities in future years.
Every year, CDFW staff and affiliated contract employees monitor marine docks and launch ramps to observe and sample salmon brought ashore by private recreational boats and charter vessels. The samplers are tasked with observing salmon catch, gathering effort information about the fishing trip and collecting biological samples of tagged salmon.
Each year, approximately 40 million fall-run Chinook salmon are produced at California hatcheries. A minimum of 25 percent of those juvenile salmon are implanted with a Coded Wire Tag (CWT) in their snout prior to release into California’s rivers